Richest man

Chapter 8 Europe: Roman Abramovich (2)
Abramovich has always been a skilled user of interpersonal relationships, which is the same as a large number of Russian rich people-using good government and personal relationships to obtain the initial accumulation of wealth.

Abramovich made his fortune through Berezovsky, a Russian media mogul in the 20s who first met Abramovich on a friend's yacht.Many years later, he recalled to his friends that when they met for the first time, he felt that Abu was the most talented young man he had ever met.

One month later, when Berezovsky was considering buying Siberia Petroleum, he thought of Abramovich, who had already entered the oil exploration industry at that time. They met, and their earliest cooperation and good relationship began at this time of.After that, he brought Abramovich into Yeltsin's circle of life.

Abramovich is indeed a person who always reminds people.

When he joined the army, it was between two wars.At that time, although the Soviet army was full of veterans bullying recruits, he was able to establish a good relationship with veterans and even officers.

Abramovich's biographers Dominique Mijili and Chris Hawkins, a well-known British journalist, revealed that during his time in the army, a recruit named Edil Aitnazarov came to the army.The boy came from a small village in Kyrgyzstan, so he didn't speak much Russian.Abu enthusiastically introduced the situation of the camp to him, and offered to help him learn Russian.Later, Abu also taught him how to pick mushrooms - Kyrgyzstan does not grow mushrooms.A year and a half later, due to an accident at home, Aitnazarov was demobilized early, and Abramovich gave him all his money.Now, Edir Aitnazarov and many comrades in arms at that time still remember the excellent qualities of Abramovich, who is now calling the wind and rain.

Earlier, in [-], Abramovich entered the No. [-] Primary School in Moscow.Later, the billionaire built a new gymnasium, a resplendent cafeteria and a computer center for the elementary school.The school also published a booklet dedicated to Abramovich, which contains a letter to the alumnus: "When we exercise in the gymnasium, we will think of you. When we eat in the cafeteria, we will remember you." Thinking of you. When we use the computer, we think of you..."

During his tenure as the administrator of the Chukotka Autonomous Region, Abramovich invested 3 million US dollars there, established medical institutions, schools, supermarkets, improved the infrastructure there, and opened charities.A resident of the Chukotka Autonomous Region once said to the cameras of the world: He has brought us happiness.He knows what it means to have a good life.

This is the convincing Abramovich, and one of the reasons for his success seems to be his impressive manner in the face of opportunities.An old friend of his commented on him this way: "His behavior style is good at analyzing the psychology of others and relying on his own network to do things. He has a gentle temperament and never takes merciless actions. He only uses people he trusts, That's a plus. Abramovich never wanted to be an oligarch, it was more important for him to survive. He was very cautious."

Born to Know How to Make Money – Be Brave to Take Opportunities
In the book "Abramovich: A Billionaire Descended from the Sky", the author once vividly described the story of Abramovich's smuggling.

The plane took off slowly at the capital Moscow Airport in the night, and a young man on board breathed a sigh of relief.Because his bag was full of contraband such as Marlboro cigarettes and Chanel perfume.In order to bring these things onto the plane, he really had to work hard, desperately fighting with the police and security personnel for a long time before successfully breaking through.Once this matter is discovered, he may be sentenced to at least five years in prison and sent to a remote and cold Siberia labor camp to serve.Naturally, this was the worst thing for him.

This young man who has been described countless times is Abramovich.

In fact, there is another version of the story.The story was revealed by his wife Irina. 16 years ago, during the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Irina met Abramovich, who was penniless at the time, and the two began to do business together.Irina was a stewardess, and she brought back various small items from the West during a stopover during her trip, and then Abramovich made "pirated" copies in that small apartment.

One of his classmates recalled: "Abramovich is a very shrewd person. He used his friends and family in Moscow and his small apartment to sell some cigarettes, cosmetics and jeans. I took an hour-long flight to the northern city of Ukta to sell, and we were both studying there at the time. At that time, the Soviet Union banned private enterprises and imposed heavy sentences on those who did business. He had to use money to open up many joints. If If one of them denounces him to the government, he will face disaster."

Abramovich, who initially relied on smuggling on planes, later owned 26% of the shares of Aeroflot, and he developed step by step by relying on the planes of this airline at the beginning.

"Romain knew how to make money by nature," said his ex-wife Olga.

The big change for Abramovich, who started out as a smuggler and trafficker, came after Boris Yeltsin came to power.Russia has accelerated the pace of economic reforms, but the relevant legislative work lags behind real life.Many people at the time understood that there was a lot of money to be made in the oil business, and it didn't have to be drilling.Since the price of domestic oil in Russia is far lower than the international market price, as long as you can obtain an oil export license and carry out oil export trade, you can quickly obtain high returns.And Abramovich was one of the first to see this prospect.

Entering oil trading was a major decision in his life. Abramovich started to open his own oil trading and related companies.Later, it was precisely because of his experience in oil trading that he had the opportunity to cooperate with Berezovsky to develop the Siberian Petroleum Company.

Taking chances bravely is one of Abramovich's great secrets of success.Later, on the issue of Putin's presidential election, he once again proved his grasp of opportunities.In order to help Putin enter the Kremlin, Abramovich and Berezovsky organized the "Unity Party" and provided financial support to it.According to the original goal, the "Unity Party" should help Putin become the president of Russia.Abramovich's personal relationship with Putin has also been further strengthened throughout the election process, with Putin visiting his 99-acre estate in Moscow several times.Later, the oligarchs began to feud with the president - Berezovsky wanted to get a government job, but Putin told him that everything would be his own responsibility.At this time, Abramovich immediately sided with Putin.He made it clear that he was ready to strictly abide by the new rules of the game.

This directly made Abramovich one of the very few economic oligarchs who could stand alone when Putin began to liquidate the oligarchs in Russia a few years later.

Be in the right place at the right time - stay in good position at all times
When Abramovich evaluates himself, he always says one thing: appear at the right place at the right time.

In fact, this is exactly the case. Before 1997, Abramovich rarely gave media interviews, and was rarely photographed or videotaped.Of course, after buying Chelsea in 2003, his name became one of the most exposed names in the UK. (This is why Abramovich has made himself the Abramovich of the world, the Abramovich of the United Kingdom, and the Abramovich of fans out of the consideration of breaking away from Russia.)
After Yeltsin stepped down in 1998, Abramovich began to step from behind the scenes of the political arena to the front. In December 1999, Abramovich abandoned business and entered politics and was elected as a representative of the Russian State Duma, which gave him immunity from parliamentarians.This is the first seat Abramovich found for himself after losing his political backing.

And with Putin, who has a good relationship with him, came to power, Abramovich once again chose a suitable seat for himself.He was "far away" from Moscow, the political center, and set his sights on the Chukchi National Autonomous Region, the "small land" at the easternmost point of Russia.Chukotka faces Alaska in the United States across the sea, with a population of less than 8, an area of ​​more than 73 square kilometers, and 50% of which are located in the Arctic Circle. It is always ice and snow, and the environment is harsh. It is regarded as a wild place by the Russians. .In the Russian Federation, each state and autonomous region has its own legislative power, and Abramovich, who is far away from Moscow, can leave Moscow's political whirlpool here.

In 2003, in the storm of liquidating oligarchs in Russia, Abramovich took the most important step and started a football journey called the "immigration plan" by the Russians.

Abramovich not only settled in the UK, but also transferred his wealth by buying world-renowned clubs.Then he also announced that he would not run for the post of the next chief executive of the autonomous region. He not only changed from a Russian to a British, but also made football his own talisman.

Too ostentatious wealth will arouse great resentment among the Russian people. After entering the UK, Abramovich refused to be interviewed by any media on the grounds that he could not answer in English.

He chose silence when his high-profile claims were most needed.He knew that at this time, someone would naturally speak for him.

He found a way out, but will Putin still take him under the knife?

The Russian government announced in 2003 that it would investigate tax evasion of the Siberian oil company in 2001 and 2002. This once made the media predict that Putin would attack Abramovich. Pick it up yourself.

In fact, in Putin's fight against oligarchs, Abramovich's role has always been vague, and it can even be said that he has acted as a middleman between the older generation of oligarchs and the government.When Berezovsky, the founder of the Siberian company, was forced to transfer his equity in a national TV station to Abramovich after a stalemate with Putin, Abramovich immediately transferred the equity to the government to help the government control media public opinion .Some reports even say that he is likely to be "the invisible hand of the Kremlin".

When the Russian Taxation Ministry accused Abramovich's fifth largest oil company, Russia's Siberia Petroleum Company, in 2000-2001, for evading a total of 10 billion U.S. dollars in taxes, and asked the company to pay this part of the huge amount of taxes, Abramovich made another timely statement. Back to Moscow. In October 2003, when Khodorkovsky, the largest shareholder of Russia's largest oil company Yukos, was detained by the Russian government for a few days, Abramovich also returned to Russia and had a meeting with President Vladimir Putin .

Russian exiled tycoon Berezovsky interpreted: "People around Putin are redistributing wealth. The new generation of oligarch Abramovich is working with Putin to do good things."

However, public opinion generally believes that Putin will not completely give up the handling of Abramovich, and all signs indicate that Putin will continue to pursue the former oil tycoons.

In addition, due to well-known reasons, the social phenomenon of disparity between rich and poor has appeared in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.The popular periodical "Questions Weekly" published in Poland published a "Ranking List of Rich People in Socialist Countries in the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe". There are a total of [-] wealthy people on the list.According to the magazine's estimates, the total assets of these [-] rich people are as high as [-] billion US dollars.There are as many as [-] Russians in this ranking!Among these [-] people, the richest man is the Russian Khodorkovsky (already arrested).Ranked second is also a Russian, and he is Roman Abramovich.Ranked third and fifth are also Russians. "Question Weekly" also specifically pointed out: Against the background of the "rich people" in Russia and Ukraine, the four Eastern European countries of Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, as well as the former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, The rich there appear "too shabby and rustic".

The magnification of the gap between the rich and the poor is undoubtedly one of the triggers that caused the people of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist countries to be extremely angry with the economic oligarchs—they injected the efficiency of capitalism into the huge, underdeveloped The market was able to amass huge wealth, relying more on the possession of national resources during the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, and those resources should have belonged to this country and its people.

Abramovich seems to have stayed away from the political storm in Russia, but in the wrestling with politics, who can guarantee that he is not the next Khodorkovsky? I have realized: wealth itself, especially huge wealth ,

Never set a man free.

(End of this chapter)